One of the highlights of the self-adhesive label industry’s calendar is the biennial Technical Seminar organised by the international association, FINAT.   Taking place once again in Barcelona, 16-18 March 2016, at the Crowne Plaza Barcelona Fira Center, the event is headlined ‘Labelling – the future and beyond’. Always a popular event, it has already attracted substantial interest from suppliers, converters and end users from around the world.

The programme is wide-ranging, combining formal plenary and parallel-conference sessions and extensive peer networking around the accompanying tabletop exhibition. The 2016 FINAT Technical Seminar promises to provide a focussed, practical and down-to-earth evaluation of the opportunities and challenges for self-adhesive labelling today, and tomorrow, for all involved in the industry.

The seminar opens with a prime topic via an exploration of how labels need to change to meet end users’ and consumers’ criteria In the face of the extensive change that labelling and product decoration are today experiencing in terms of print technologies and substrates, packaging styles, regulatory concerns, brand owner and consumer demands, and environmental issues, this session will be a prelude to the more in-depth discussions that are scheduled in the course of the seminar.

Following an overarching update on the latest test methods developed by the Technical Committee, an overview of regulatory affairs from FINAT’s Public Affairs Manager Mark Macaré and an introduction to the FINAT/TLMI Life-cycle Analysis Guide from Anne Gaasbeek, Pré Consultants, seminar delegates will be able to attend parallel sessions on emerging technologies and /sustainability.

Future developments are the focal point of the second day’s agenda, at every level of self-adhesive labelling’s activities, from pre-press innovations and measurements in labelstock testing to L’Oréal’s evaluation of label quality. Throughout the programme, the supplier tabletop exhibition provides a perfect location for delegate networking and business discussions.

The 2016 FINAT Technical Seminar is one of a number of events organised to assist members in navigating successfully the evolving label industry – including an ongoing programme of technology webinars throughout the year; the FINAT Young Managers Club Summit (Budapest, 28-30 April); and the annual European Label Forum (Amsterdam, 16-18 June).